Lip balm isn't addictive. Not really. Nothing in these products drives you to be physiologically dependent on them. Nevertheless, there are steps you can take to reduce your compulsion to apply the stuff: Use petroleum-based rather than wax-based products. "A wax-based product is not necessarily causing a problem, but it's not very good at treating a problem," says Todd Perkins, a Washington, D.C., dermatologist. Instead, Perkins recommends Aquaphor, Vaseline or any petroleum-based products, which...

By Sue Hubbard, M.D., www.kidsdr.com and The Kid's Doctor | March 18, 2014

Spring break season has begun and young people, as well as families will be heading to the mountains for a final few days of skiing or the beach for some longed-for warm weather. Either destination requires sun protection, especially for the face. I've just returned from skiing with my best friend from medical school days, who's a dermatologist. Whenever we travel together, I know she'll ask if I'm wearing sunscreen and enough of it! On our recent trip, she was teaching...

A 28-year-old man was being held Tuesday in the Du Page County Jail after pointing a lip balm tube through a pocket to hold up a Glendale Heights gas station, police said. Marcus T. Gengler of 511 S. Kendall St., Moecherville, was arrested and charged with theft and robbery Sunday. He is being held in lieu of $20,000 bond, police said. Gengler entered Jean's Mobil at Army Trail and Bloomingdale Roads shortly before 1:20 a.m. Sunday, police said. After asking an employee for...

A Cook County jury convicted a Chicago attorney of sex assault and sex abuse charges Friday night in connection with an attack on a woman in her Gold Coast hotel room in 2012. Prosecutors alleged that Anthony Bergamino Jr. had covered his hands with lip balm after his arrest to destroy potential DNA evidence. During closing arguments earlier Friday, a prosecutor ridiculed Bergamino's claim from the witness stand that he was the “son of a germophobe” who had used...

Like so many, Lisa Skaryd started young--at age 11, to be exact--when she took her first hit at a birthday party. Now, at 26, she feels physically uncomfortable when she can't get to her stash. Her lips feel dry. They start to ache and crack. "If I discover that I don't have my stuff with me, I stop and buy one right away," said Skaryd, a temporary office worker in Chicago. "I would be frightened to be without it." Skaryd admits it: She is a lip balm addict. ...

The Orland Park Veterans Commission wants to remember the troops who are overseas with a donations drive. Commission staff say some people might have forgotten the soldiers are still in need of supplies for basic living, despite waning media coverage in recent years. "I think people are just thinking, 'Out of sight out, out of mind,'" said Gail Blummer, Veterans Commission secretary. "One of the things the Veterans Commission does is try to keep people aware. " Care packages are...

Many people have to deal with cold sores, those painful blisters caused by a common virus and usually found on or around the mouth. Here are ways to fight them: Take action fast. Start treatment at the first sign of a cold sore, usually a tingling or tickling sensation and a small bump. Try heat or ice. Warm or cold compresses can relieve pain and swelling and may keep a blister from forming. Over-the-counter painkillers or fever reducers also can help. Keep them clean.

At 7 a.m. on Christmas Eve nine nurses gather in the pediatric intensive care unit at Rush University Medical Center. While others juggle gift-wrapping and last minute errands, these caregivers are laser-focused on a dozen young patients, all of them critically ill. They arrive wearing red Santa caps and green reindeer antlers, but avoid making any overly festive predictions about their shift, which is just beginning. Yuletide or not, superstition runs...

My 5-year-old grandson was watching a television sitcom about a boy who was planning on kissing a girl. He used breath spray and lip balm to prepare for the big moment. My daughter asked my grandson if boys should use breath spray and lip balm before kissing. He said in all seriousness, "Oh, you should never use lip balm. You could blow somebody's head off."

Once holiday afterthoughts, bath and body products have become luxuries of the first order in an age of fiscal restraint. Here are some stocking stuffers that will be appreciated down to the last drop, dollop, sud or swipe. For the kisser: Flavors of the holidays will linger after the tree comes down with C.O. Bigelow's new Winter Cordials lip glosses in triple hot chocolate, warm spiced cider, vanilla eggnog and hot buttered rum. $7.50 each at C.O. Bigelow stores and...

Many people have to deal with cold sores, those painful blisters caused by a common virus and usually found on or around the mouth. Here are ways to fight them: Take action fast. Start treatment at the first sign of a cold sore, usually a tingling or tickling sensation and a small bump. Try heat or ice. Warm or cold compresses can relieve pain and swelling and may keep a blister from forming. Over-the-counter painkillers or fever reducers also can help. Keep them clean.

Still quacky and quirky but calorie free, it's Peeps for the guilt-free pleasure generation. The Easter-candy icon has converted its squishy charms into a lip balm with scents of cotton candy, strawberry, grape or vanilla and trace flavors to soothe a savage sweet tooth, not to mention a severely chapped kisser. We can't say whether four out of five dentists recommend it, but three out of three Q staffers do--if you don't need the sugar-coated crunch and cling of marshmallow...

Lip balm isn't addictive. Not really. Nothing in these products drives you to be physiologically dependent on them. Nevertheless, there are steps you can take to reduce your compulsion to apply the stuff: Use petroleum-based rather than wax-based products. "A wax-based product is not necessarily causing a problem, but it's not very good at treating a problem," says Todd Perkins, a Washington, D.C., dermatologist. Instead, Perkins recommends Aquaphor, Vaseline or any petroleum-based products, which...

He carries one in his pocket, said Landon Yeager, an auditor from Dallas. "One in my gym bag, one in my briefcase, one in my desk and one in my car." And every morning after he brushes his teeth, Yeager, 27, puts some of it on. Since he started using Jack Black intense lip therapy balm about five years ago to soothe lips frequently chapped from airline travel, Yeager said he has been hooked on the "cool mint feeling." So hooked that for his wedding last year, he included the balm in a cosmetic...

By Julia Feldmeier, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST | December 28, 2008

Let's make a list of the important things you need before walking out the door: Wallet: Check. Cellphone: Check. Keys: Check. Lip balm? You slap your back pocket. Nope. This is a problem. A huge, paralyzing problem. You are a lip balm addict, after all. And you are not alone. Countless Facebook groups are dedicated to the "crackstick" in all its varieties: ChapStick, Blistex, Burt's Bees, Carmex. Any lip lubricant that comes in a tube or a tub. There are online quizzes that measure how...

Calling all Metrosexual wannabes. Not sure where to store your wallet, keys, cell phone, Palm Pilot, lip balm, cologne and hair products when you are on the go? How about in a man bag? That's right. Seinfeld would be proud. "It's not a purse, it's a European carry-all!" he cried in one episode. Manbag.com sells four styles for the sophisticate in your life. They call theirs a Man-n-Bag. (Motto: If it's not a Man-n-Bag, it's a purse.) RedEye suggests: Murse, Malebag, ManSack, Testosterone Tote, Burly Bag...

What does a normal case of chapped lips look like? Usually the lips are red and they're flaking or scaly. Sometimes there's cracking. Patients describe pain, especially when consuming foods with a lot of acid such as tomatoes or orange juice. Here are the recommended treatments: Aquaphor and Vaseline Dr. Marcia Driscoll, a clinical associate professor of dermatology at the University of Maryland, recommends Aquaphor, an over-the-counter treatment. The gooey ointment, without fragrance or irritating...

Like so many, Lisa Skaryd started young--at age 11, to be exact--when she took her first hit at a birthday party. Now, at 26, she feels physically uncomfortable when she can't get to her stash. Her lips feel dry. They start to ache and crack. "If I discover that I don't have my stuff with me, I stop and buy one right away," said Skaryd, a temporary office worker in Chicago. "I would be frightened to be without it." Skaryd admits it: She is a lip balm addict. ...

He thought about it all the time. He had to have it. If he went too long without it, his need for a fix consumed him. Kevin Crossman was a lip balm addict. A sweaty, obsessed, quivering addict. So much so that he founded Lip Balm Anonymous. Now he's clean. "It's been about 13 years, six months and two days," Crossman said. "I went cold turkey." Crossman is just one of millions who are quite attached to their lip balm. According to ACNielsen Co., sales of lip balms grew last year to more...